The mystery behind who exactly leaked the information that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling was the author of an obscure crime novel titled The Cuckoo’s Calling. A law firm has admitted to the leak.
Rowling was forced to admit that she was “Robert Galbraith,” the author credited to The Cuckoo’s Calling, over the weekend after the British paper The Sunday Times published a story claiming that she wrote the book. After that, sales of the book exploded.
Sunday Times art editor Richard Brooks explained to The New York Times that he was tipped off by a mysterious tweet that claimed Rowling was Galbraith. After Brooks asked how the person knew, the reply was “I just know” and the user disappeared. So, the Sunday Times was left to analyze the book itself and its experts determined that Rowling was Galbraith.
On Thursday, The Associated Press reports that British law firm Russells released a statement confirming that the Twitter user was linked to one of its partners, Chris Gossage. Gossage had told Judith Callegari, one of his wife’s friends Galbraith’s true identity, and then Callegari tweeted it to the Sunday Times. Her Twitter profile has since been deleted.
Russells said that “we apologize unreservedly” to Rowling and that even though Gossage was to blame, “the disclosure was made in confidence to someone he trusted implicitly.”
In conclusion, Russells said that the leak was not part of some publicity stunt. So when Rowling told the press “I had hoped to keep this secret a little longer,” she meant it.
Rowling did release a blunt statement after Russells’ revelations, saying, “To say that I am disappointed is an understatement. I had assumed that I could expect total confidentiality from Russells, a reputable professional firm, and I feel very angry that my trust turned out to be misplaced.”
image: Amazon